Gavin Newsom

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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, California. He was elected the city's mayor on December 9, 2003, succeeding Willie Brown. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

1 Early life
2 Family
3 Education
4 Private sector
5 Public service
6 San Francisco Mayor
7 Social policy
8 Universal health care proposal
9 LGBT rights
10 References
11 External links

[edit] Early life

A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Newsom's paternal great-grandfather immigrated to America from Ireland in 1865. Newsom was born to retired state appeals court Judge William Newsom and Tessa Menzies Newsom in San Francisco. His parents divorced in 1972, and at age ten Newsom moved with his mother to nearby Marin County.

Newsom's paternal aunt was married to the brother-in-law of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker Elect of the U.S. House of Representatives. <ref>"Newsom’s Portfolio: Mayoral hopeful has parlayed Getty money, family ties and political connections into local prominence", San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2003.</ref> He is the maternal great-grandson of the Scotsman Thomas Addis, a pioneer scientist in the field of nephrology. He is also a distant cousin of singer/songwriter Joanna Newsom.

[edit] Family

In December 2001, Newsom married Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former San Francisco prosecutor and legal commentator for Court TV, CNN, and MSNBC, and who now hosts The Lineup on Fox News Channel. On January 7, 2005, the couple jointly filed for divorce, citing "difficulties due to their careers on opposite coasts." Since the divorce was finalized, Newsom has been romantically linked with actress Sofia Milos <ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/28/BAGLSJ3NM11.DTL</ref>, 20-year-old model Brittanie Mountz <ref>"Has the mayor's new girlfriend, who is only 20, been drinking?", San Francisco Chronicle, October 15, 2006.</ref>, and actress Jennifer Siebel. <ref>http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/11/05/gavins_new_date.php</ref>

[edit] Education

Newsom graduated from Redwood High School in 1985. He then attended Santa Clara University on a partial baseball scholarship, where he graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

[edit] Private sector

After graduation, he started the PlumpJack Wine Shop in 1992, with a loan from Gordon Getty. The business eventually grew to a multi-million dollar empire with over 700 employees, including five restaurants, a Napa winery, a hotel and ski resort, and two retail clothing stores.

[edit] Public service

In 1996, Newsom was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to a vacant seat on the Parking and Traffic Commission and was elected President of the Commission. Also in 1996, Newsom was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the Marina District (District 2). Voters re-elected him to the Board of Supervisors in 1998, 2000, and 2002.

As Supervisor, Newsom gained public attention for his role in advocating reform of the city's beleaguered Municipal Railway (Muni). He sponsored a ballot measure from the transit riders group Rescue Muni; a version of the measure was approved by voters in November 1999.

[edit] San Francisco Mayor

Following a tight runoff election with Matt Gonzalez, Newsom was elected mayor of the City and County of San Francisco in 2003. National figures from the Democratic Party, including Bill Clinton and Al Gore, campaigned on his behalf. He campaigned partly on a pledge to focus on the city's notorious homeless problem, adopting much of the same agenda pursued by Rudolph Giuliani in New York City a decade earlier.

Throughout his tenure, Newsom has been a popular mayor, with approval ratings hovering in the 80 percent range, making him one of the most popular major US elected officials.

[edit] Social policy

Image:Sharon-Stone-and-Gavin-Newsom.JPG

As Supervisor, the centerpiece of Newsom's reform package was a voter initiative called Care Not Cash, which substituted direct aid in the form of rent vouchers, etc., for cash payments heretofore made to indigents under the state's General Assistance program. Care Not Cash caused significant controversy in the city and its implementation was protested by numerous homeless rights advocates in San Francisco. <ref>http://www.sfbg.com/36/51/x_oped.html</ref><ref>http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/10/1535118.php</ref> Implementation of Care Not Cash began on July 1, 2004. As part of his Care Not Cash initiative, 5,000 more homeless people were given permanent shelter in the city, and as of May 4, 2006 1,318 people have been placed into permanent housing with support.

Newsom has focused city resources on impoverished districts in Bayview-Hunters Point on San Francisco's southeast side, often arriving there without notice to follow through on city programs. He extended the city-funded health insurance program, started under Mayor Brown, to young adults, a program that had been previously offered only to children. Newsom appointed San Francisco's first female police chief, Heather Fong, and fire chief, Joanne Hayes-White.

On October 27, 2004, during a strike by hotel workers on a dozen San Francisco hotels, Newsom joined UNITE HERE union members on a picket line in front of the Westin St. Francis Hotel. He vowed that the city would boycott the hotels by not sponsoring city events in any of them until the hotels agreed to a contract with workers. The contract dispute was settled nearly two years later <ref>http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2006/09/11/daily18.html</ref>.

[edit] Universal health care proposal

In his budget proposal for fiscal year 2007-2008, Newsom announced his intention to provide universal health care for all city residents through the San Francisco Health Access Plan.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-07-sf-health-plan_x.htm</ref> If enacted by the Board of Supervisors, the new law would make San Francisco only the second jurisdiction in the nation (after the state of Massachusetts) to have such an initiative.<ref>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1207599,00.html</ref>

Newsom's proposal has prompted Oakland mayor-elect Ron Dellums and San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors to look into possibilities for providing their own taxpayer-subsidized health care.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/26/BAGM7JK9E21.DTL&hw=ron+dellums&sn=001&sc=1000</ref><ref>http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=60603</ref> San Francisco's health care proposal may become a model for the country if implemented. The move may also boost Gavin Newsom's political career and help him run for higher office.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/02/MNGOQJO6OO1.DTL</ref>

[edit] LGBT rights

Main article: San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings

Newsom gained international attention, and attracted controversy, in February 2004, when he issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Newsom claimed the California Constitution's equal protection clause as his authority to do so, and decided to perform the marriages after hearing President Bush's State of the Union address. From February 12 until March 11, 2004 (when the weddings were halted by the California Supreme Court), about 4,000 same-sex couples were issued marriage licenses in San Francisco. On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court voided all of these marriages.